KURDISH NEWS WEEKLY BRIEFING, 1-8 JANUARY 2017 NEWS

1. Thousands in Paris: We won’t allow the case to be covered up2. KCK: We will bring the perpetrators of Paris massacre to justice3. Êzidîs call upon the PKK and the world4. The Yazidi Forces will defend the Yazidis against Turkey and Barzani!5. KCK: Peshmergas’ visit to Qandil is a response to Turkish occupation6. 4 DBP Co-Mayors Arrested, Trustee Appointed to Ömerli Municipality7. Turkey ousts 6 Kurdish language professors in Artuklu University8. Call from TİHV for Editors-in-Chief Hearing to be Held on January 119. 9 HDP Executives Including İstanbul Co-Chairs Arrested10. Turkey’s war on Syrian Kurds under scrutiny11. Syria citadel near Raqqa captured by US-backed Kurds12. 12. Brits travelling to Syria to fight ISIS should not be treated as terrorists, says foreign fighter13. Former soldier under threat from extremists after trying to join Kurds against Islamic State14. Turkey needs Russia, Iran to fight threats: Pundit

OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS1. Turkey Keeps on Bombing the Kurds as it Smiles to the World2. The Kurdish woman building a feminist democracy and fighting Isis at the same time3. The Reina atrocity shows how deeply Islamic fanaticism has taken hold in Turkey4. Turkey: Winner or loser in Syria?5. Turkey: DAF, anarchist newspaper Meydan #35 — ‘we are being cornered’ (tr)6. Journalism On Trial In Turkey7. Turkey and the Alevis8. Turkey Must Come to Terms With All its Terrorists9. Controlling the Narrative on Syria by Louis Allday10. MAKING AN EXAMPLE OUT OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS WHO COVER SYRIA

PIK – WOMEN ALLIANCE1. JUSTICE FOR SAKINE CANSIZ, FIDAN DOGAN AND LEYLA SAYLEMEZ
THE PERPETRATORS MUST BE HELD TO ACCOUNT
2. Acceptance Speech by Mozn Hassan (Nazra for Feminist Studies) for the 2016 Right Livelihood Award3. Women’s Alliance News Briefing December 20164. Message of solidarity for January 9th, Day of Common Action Against Political

1. Thousands in Paris: We won’t allow the case to be covered up
7 January/ANF NewsThousands of Kurds living in Europe have gathered in Paris to remember PKK founding mumber Sakine Cansız, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Paris Representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez who were assassinated in Kurdistan Information Center in the heart of the French capital on January 9, 2013.http://anfenglish.com/women/thousands-in-paris-we-won-t-allow-the-case-to-be-covered-up

2. KCK: We will bring the perpetrators of Paris massacre to justice
8 January/ANF NewsKCK Executive Council Co-presidency issued a written statement on the anniversary of January 9 Paris massacre and emphasized that the genocidal and colonialist Turkish state and AKP government were responsible for the assassination of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez. KCK commemorated the 3 slain Kurdish women, and said that the massacre was targeting the passion for freedom embodied in Cansız, Doğan and Şaylemez.http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/kck-we-will-bring-the-perpetrators-of-paris-massacre-to-justice

3. Êzidîs call upon the PKK and the world
8 January/ANF NewsThe Democratic Êzidî Society Coordination had held a meeting, with the participation of more than 60 delegates from across Kurdistan, Europe, Russia and Armenia, on Mount Shengal between December 25-28. The coordination issued the final declaration of this meeting, where it described the PKK as the hope of Êzidî people and called upon the guerillas to not withdraw from Shengal.http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/ezidis-call-upon-the-pkk-and-the-world

5. KCK: Peshmergas’ visit to Qandil is a response to Turkish occupation
8 January/ANF NewsIn its statement, KCK said that Peshmergas represent the will of the people in South Kurdistan and their visit to Qandil is a meaningful response to Turkish occupation. KCK said ‘The visit of Peshmergas, that have fought for the freedom of Kurdistan, to Qandil has bolster the morale of us and our people. We thank the Peshmergas for their visit to Qandil. Their feelings, yearnings, and great patriotism will live on in our struggle for freedom. Our guerillas will enhance the Struggle for Freedom in order to respond to their request.’http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/kck-peshmergas-visit-to-qandil-is-a-response-to-turkish-occupation

8. Call from TİHV for Editors-in-Chief Hearing to be Held on January 11
11 January/Bianet EnglishHuman Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) has made a call for TİHV Chair Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Reporters Without Borders Representative to Turkey, bianet rapporteur Erol Önderoğlu and journalist-author Ahmet Nesin, who are facing a trial for participating in Özgür Gündem daily newspaper’s Editors-in-Chief on Watch campaign.http://bianet.org/english/media/182476-call-from-tihv-for-editors-in-chief-hearing-to-be-held-on-january-11

9. 9 HDP Executives Including İstanbul Co-Chairs Arrested
5 January/Bianet EnglishNine Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) executives including the party’s İstanbul Provincial Co-Chairs Aysel Güzel and Doğan Erbaş have been arrested. Güzel, Erbaş and HDP executives were detained as part of an investigation launched by İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Terror and Organized Crime Bureau on December 12.http://bianet.org/english/politics/182398-9-hdp-executives-including-istanbul-co-chairs-arrested

12. Brits travelling to Syria to fight ISIS should not be treated as terrorists, says foreign fighter
5 January/Russia TodayA British man, who has twice travelled to northern Syria to fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) alongside the Kurdish YPG militia group, says foreign volunteers like himself “should not be treated as terrorists.”https://www.rt.com/uk/372737-kurds-isis-foreign-macer/

13. Former soldier under threat from extremists after trying to join Kurds against Islamic State
4 January/The TelegraphA former British soldier arrested while travelling to fight against Islamic State in Syria received death threats from extremists and had to be held in solitary confinement for his own safety, a court has heard.

OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS1. Turkey Keeps on Bombing the Kurds as it Smiles to the World
30 December/The DawnThe Middle East has been suffering a war of aggression for five years, which has turned it into a chaotic region, an arena where the big powers as well as regional powers fight their battles. All of this sometimes shadows the struggles of the Kurdish people. And also the constant repression that Turkey unleashes on them.http://www.thedawn-news.org/2017/01/03/turkey-keeps-on-bombing-the-kurds-as-it-smiles-to-the-world/

2. The Kurdish woman building a feminist democracy and fighting Isis at the same time
5 January/The IndependentAsya Abdullah is not a polished politician. She speaks slowly and deliberately in Kurmanji in a tone which suggests she has had to practise her material many times.

5. Turkey: DAF, anarchist newspaper Meydan #35 — ‘we are being cornered’ (tr)
6 January/Anarchist InfosLate last month the editor of Meydan anarchist newspaper in Istanbul was sentenced to a year and three months in prison for “supporting terror,” the latest in a string of attempts by the Turkish State to shut down dissenting voices against Erdogan’s government. Today we are proud to publish a translation of Meydan’s uncompromising response, from their latest edition. —- We are being cornered —- With the fear and shock that constantly oppresses our lives, with the agendas that change by the day, by the hour, with the constant repetition we see in news articles, debates, newspapers and radios, with the shares and retweets, the media that takes us for idiots and is fed by manipulation, with the gentrification and demolition policies that erase our past, our identity and our memory, with the “illusion of democracy” that weakens and imprisons our freedom, and with the reality that becomes more and more incomprehensible everyday, we are being cornered.

10. MAKING AN EXAMPLE OUT OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS WHO COVER SYRIA
27 November/Shadow ProofOn this week’s “Unauthorized Disclosure” podcast, journalist Rania Khalek talks a bit about what she has learned while reporting in Syria. Khalek also addresses the smear attacks on her reputation, which led to her resignation from an editorial position at Electronic Intifada. It has impacted her ability to convince media outlets to publish her work while she is in Lebanon to cover stories in Syria and other nearby countries.https://shadowproof.com/2016/11/27/making-example-independent-journalists-syria/

PIK – WOMEN ALLIANCE1. JUSTICE FOR SAKINE CANSIZ, FIDAN DOGAN AND LEYLA SAYLEMEZ
THE PERPETRATORS MUST BE HELD TO ACCOUNT
6 January/Peace in Kurdistan CampaignFour years have passed since the murders of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez in their office at the Kurdish Information Center in Paris. The women died by gun shots to their heads at close range, assassination style on 9th January 2013[1]. The suspect in the case, who was linked to the Turkish security services in Ankara, died in prison suddenly on 17th December, a month before his trial was due to start. There had been no prior indications of ill health.https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2017/01/06/justice-for-sakine-cansiz-fidan-dogan-and-leyla-saylemez-the-perpetrators-must-be-held-to-account/

4. Message of solidarity for January 9th, Day of Common Action Against Political Murders of Women: Julie Ward MEP
9 January/Peace in Kurdistan CampaignI salute the memory of Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Şaylemez, Kurdish women politicians, and the three KJA (Free Women’s Congress) executive members, Sêvê Demir, Pakize Nayir and Fatma Uyar, all of whom paid a heavy price for their progressive political views, their feminist activism, their service to their communities and to the greater good of man and womankind.

CAMPAIGNS, EVENTS1. Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan – Media Release: Police action risks criminalising a community
9 January/Peace in Kurdistan CampaignNews that police in Edinburgh are investigating alleged fund raising for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organisation, has raised concerns that Turkish officials are attempting to intimidate the Scottish Kurdish community.https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2017/01/09/scottish-solidarity-with-kurdistan/

EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR AFRIN

Life in Afrin

Weekly News Briefing

Jeremy Corbyn issues statement of support for the National Demo

Message from Jeremy Corbyn to Kurdish national demonstration in London:
“I’m sorry not to be able to be with you today, but I send a message of solidarity with today’s demonstration, and with the Kurdish people, under sustained attack across the Middle East.
The conflict in Syria has been the trigger for an onslaught against the Kurdish people, who are defending their autonomy and their rights.
We are watching closely the alarming events that have been unfolding in Turkey in recent weeks, including the killing of civilians and destruction of Kurdish homes.
Any negotiated settlement of the Syrian conflict must include peace and justice for the Kurds, including in Turkey. And the Turkish government needs as a matter of urgency to restart the peace process with the Kurds and respect the rights of all its people.
We call for an end to repression of the Kurds and justice for the Kurdish people throughout the Middle East.”

Destruction and Repression in North Kurdistan

Freedom for Ocalan!

On the 19th anniversary of his kidnap and imprisonment by Turkey, we renew our call for Abdullah Ocalan to be freed as part of a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.